State Laws on Fantasy sports

[Walla Walla]

Bought a mag on fantasy football called Fantasy football index. The editor's note pointed out that they are headquartered in Washington State. Than pointed out the irony that they have written about fantasy football for 25 years even though Fantasy Sports is not allowed in Washington State. While I know most of you probably don't care because it doesn't effect you it does have an effect. I for one don't want to try to hide my joining a fantasy league and leave my ass out to hang. People always say they never go after the small guy. Well that's BS! Some prick get's a hair up his ass than looks for the small guy because he can't afford to fight back. So hopefully someday this will all change. Until than I'll be doing those ESPN free leagues for 2000 jelly beans within the league.

[Pine Tar]

Possibly moving to the Tri Cities in the near future (from Idaho). I heard there was some legislation introduced in the last legislative session to legalize fantasy sports, but apparently didn't make it into law. I would love to discuss this with you. My e-mail is [email protected].

[TOXIC ASSETS]

In this day and age it is ridiculous that there are still a few states (like WA) where fantasy sports are illegal.
As a libertarian I find this unacceptable.
John, you may need to move to a new state?

[Greg Ambrosius]

Bought a mag on fantasy football called Fantasy football index. The editor's note pointed out that they are headquartered in Washington State. Than pointed out the irony that they have written about fantasy football for 25 years even though Fantasy Sports is not allowed in Washington State. While I know most of you probably don't care because it doesn't effect you it does have an effect. I for one don't want to try to hide my joining a fantasy league and leave my ass out to hang. People always say they never go after the small guy. Well that's BS! Some prick get's a hair up his ass than looks for the small guy because he can't afford to fight back. So hopefully someday this will all change. Until than I'll be doing those ESPN free leagues for 2000 jelly beans within the league.

Hang in there John. I think even those states that are exempt from pay-to-play fantasy sports sites are starting to look at our industry differently now that Daily Fantasy Sports is projecting $3 billion in revenue this year. The five states that still have vague language in their laws are starting to get some support from legislators who feel they need to move into the 21st century. There was some positive movement in Iowa, Louisiana, Arizona and Washington recently, but still no commitment from any of those states to allow their residents to play fantasy sports for cash prizes.

That being said, I think this is the year that a few states step up and make that move. The DFS train is just too big to ignore and it's crazy to think that five states are disallowing their residents from playing a legal contest that has been verified by a federal law. There's no reason for these five states to be outliers.

Washington is moving in that direction for sure. Iowa and Louisiana are likely the closest to that point.